Model and Strategy
RUNWAY is an Oakland-based, national financial innovation firm that is advancing resiliency for Black-owned businesses and the communities they serve. We provide financing, holistic business support, and innovative financial products to Black entrepreneurs. We also shift policies and practices within financial institutions, banks, and philanthropic institutions towards more equitable outcomes for Black businesses and founders.
RUNWAY is growing our network of entrepreneurs in the Bay Area (currently numbering 33) and continuing to extend our work nationally. Over the next two years we will expand:
- FRIENDS AND FAMILY LOAN FUND PRODUCT providing friends and family style capital to start and grow a business. Our loan programs provide a transparent, yet rigorous pre-application and underwriting process, no collateral or personal guarantee requirements, and friendly loan terms that act like equity, helping entrepreneurs preserve cash for operations. Loans range from $5,000-$20,000 at a 4% annual interest rate, with interest-only payments for the first 18-24 months.
- TECHNICAL SUPPORT. Holistic, culturally relevant coaching, engagement, and training are the heartbeat of our work. This includes wrap-around business advising, peer-coaching circles, ongoing entrepreneurship and education, technical training, access to networks and markets, and quarterly gatherings of our community of borrowers and investors.
- UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME (UBI) PILOT. Within 30 days of the onset of the pandemic, we created a UBI pilot which provided six months of no strings attached capital for entrepreneurs to use on childcare, business endeavors, or however they decided. Now we are working on deploying the second round of UBI financing.
- RUNWAY LABS.The “laboratory” where we create strategies and products that challenge the status quo. In addition to the Friends and Family loan product and the UBI pilot, these include movement funds such as the Real People’s Fund and convenings like The Future of Black Capital.
- RESOURCES FOR FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS. We are developing a licensing process and professional development resources for financial institutions to shift internal practices to meet the needs of Black entrepreneurs.
RUNWAY has received numerous requests from impact investors, corporate brands, and others to help further their organizational commitment to systems change work as well as support the deployment of their assets towards more restorative ends. Over the next year we will refine our consulting curriculum and training methodology to absorb these opportunities.
While remaining deeply rooted in the Bay Area and continuing to grow most expansively here, Runway will continue to source and vet new communities and financial institutions nationwide, using our learnings and programming in the Bay Area as a best practice.
Impact
RUNWAY defines success as how well we respond to our entrepreneurs and how well we create services and products that are in place to see them thrive. The past year, and the impact of Covid-19 specifically, has been a proving ground.
In March 2020, right after California’s Shelter-in-Place order, RUNWAY held a family meeting with our portfolio businesses to listen and understand the impacts of the pandemic on their families and businesses. It became clear that we needed to halt national expansion and double down on work in the Bay Area, ensuring that our current entrepreneurs had what they needed for their businesses to survive. In addition to increasing our technical assistance, we got to work raising capital for an Emergency Relief Fund and created the UBI Pilot.
The results of this kind of loving, “friends and family” support continues to inspire awe and faith for ourselves and our partners. Today, 18 months after the onset of Covid, 100% of our Black-owned businesses are still operational, compared with the national average of 60% (according to a recent study from the Washington Times). 87% of RUNWAY entrepreneurs received a forgivable loan from the national Payroll Protection Program, compared to 1.9% of black entrepreneurs nationally who received a PPP loan, (according to data from the Small Business Administration). Many of our entrepreneurs have pivoted in exciting ways and are thriving beyond their own expectations.
Leadership
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Jessica Norwood
Founder & CEO
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Nina Robinson
Fund Director